Thursday, August 18, 2016

KINGDOM LIVING - COUNT THE COST

Dear One, When Jesus was talking to His disciples about the possibility of having kingdom living while in the earth, He gave to them and to you the parable of preferring your allegiance to Me rather than the chains that bind you to undo allegiances to your husband or wife, your child, your brother or sister or parents, your church, your political party or even your own life style. He said that if you wish to enjoy kingdom living in the earth that you must put everything into degrees of importance and preference.( Luke 14:25-26) He was saying that your allegiance to Me and to what I say to you is more important, more powerful, more enlightening, more freeing than what your family, your church or your political party can counsel you how to act or to do. He was not saying that you must withdraw all love and honor from your family, but that you must not put their counsel and their guidance above Mine. He was not saying to hate your church or your political parties, but that you should not look to them to be your savior and the source of your salvation. Many of My children have turned from Me because of having those areas of preference instead of seeking My kingdom and My righteousness. Your family, your church, your political party and your friends will always be opposed to your 100% dedication to Me because they feel that it will cost them your attention. In reality, they will get more of your attention if you prefer My counsel and dedication than theirs because I will teach you how to love them unconditionally, which they have never experienced. Jesus said that anyone who does not bear his own cross cannot be His disciple. He was talking about your bearing the troublesome faults of other people like I bore their sins on the cross. When you forgive and love your enemies as well as your family and friends, you are bearing the cross because you are doing what Jesus commanded, loving others as I love you. (Luke 14:27) When your primary allegiance is to Me, you will seek Me and seek to become My image in the earth, a living witness to My character. All of your family, your friends, your neighbors and your enemies will benefit because of your unconditional love for them which comes as a result of your becoming intimately acquainted with Me. Yet, Jesus told His followers that a person who wants to build a house sits down first, counts the cost and decides whether he has enough finances and resources to complete it.(Luke 14:28-30) If not, when he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will mock him for starting the project without finishing it. In this comparison, He was talking about those people who only lay the foundation of Himself as the cornerstone and foundation, but then refuse to receive My promise that was hidden from the foundation of the world, the coming of My Spirit into their lives to give them power over all evil and the power to bring kingdom living into their lives. The thought of being completely yielded to Me and receiving My power is frightening to them because they are afraid of losing control of their lives. That is why I said that if a person wants kingdom living in his life that he or she must be willing to leave his fears, his religious programming and his previous life behind. Jesus included another scenario in order to get his point across about complete allegiance to Me. He compared it to a king who encounters another king at war and does not sit down and take counsel whether he has enough soldiers to fight the other king who has more soldiers. It is a picture of the battle always being with demonic forces, not with people. If a person does not have the power of My Holy Spirit, he or she will make peace with the demons and continue to allow them to permeate the earth. However, if the king does decide to seek counsel from Me, I will tell him to make peace with the people but to incorporate My power of the Holy Spirit to defeat the demons in the spiritual war who are many. (Luke 14:31-32) This parable is a picture of My kingdom living while in the earth, teaching that your allegiance to Me will counsel you that making peace with people replaces war and love for people replaces opposition. That is what Jesus had previously taught you to do, to turn the other cheek, to love your enemies, to always make peace with your enemies, to do good to those who persecute you and and abuse you, Jesus was telling people that My ways are higher than your ways and that you must consider that in counting the cost in deciding to seek Me with your 100% devotion. However, with My Holy Spirit's prayer language, you can battle the demonic causes of conflict by praying in My Spirit. All spiritual wars have been won by My children battling against principalities and powers by merely praying in My Holy Spirit's prayer language in their prayer closet. He is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and He prays the same kind of prayers that allowed Peter and Paul, both, to be freed from earthly prisons. As I told you when you were counting the cost on whether to become completely One with Me through the power of My Spirit, I asked you if you wanted to continue in familiar garbage or if you wanted to receive gold and kingdom living in your life. It was a struggle between the devil and My Holy Spirit, both pulling at you, but you chose My gold and you are living the life that I promised. Jesus concluded this parable by saying that salt is good, but if it has lost its savor that it cannot be restored, so men throw it away. (Luke 14L33) The testimony of My children who have refused to finish building My dwelling place in the earth inside of them by only laying the foundation of Jesus for forgiveness of sins, refusing to be baptized in My Holy Spirit which gives them My supernatural power which leads to kingdom living, that refusal will cause others to lose their taste for My kingdom because the lights have dimmed. My children who refused to finish the house are like the king, the person who did not have the spiritual power to defeat his enemy because he was lacking in spiritual power so he just made peace with his demonic enemy. You found that living in My palace and having kingdom living is better than living in the pig pen with garbage. You counted the cost and you make the right decision. I love My children who count the cost and choose Me and I love My children who count the cost and choose earthly allegiances. I do not withhold My love from someone who makes wrong decisions. I grieve that they will have to live in garbage instead of enoy My loving counsel and salvation. Place Me first place in your heart. Let your light shine before men so that they will glorify Me and the kingdom living that I offer. Your Father of Kingdom Living